Herschelle Gibbs, who once owned up, with perverse pride, to never having read a book, has essayed enough incendiary innings to fill a fat volume and, in the field, cut down many a batsman with all the electric grace of an enraged poet. Though he might not bother with many more words than yes, no, wait, and mine, Gibbs inspires superlatives from those who marvel at his appetite for the spectacular. Ordinary he is not.

Gibbs has played some of the most outrageous strokes yet seen. How many other batsmen practice, seriously, cutting fast bowlers for six? Or drive throat balls down the ground? Or make pulling off the front foot look everyday? That goes for whether he is batting in the middle of the order or at the top, and whether the ball is old or new. Gibbs has put all that together so many times that he can't be accused of being some charlatan who deals in fluke and luck.

He did so in the grandest of manner at the Wanderers in 2006 to score 175 off 111 balls and help South Africa clinch a one-day series against Australia. The battleground scenes of this extraordinary match, that delivered totals of 434 for four and 438 for nine, swirled all about. But Gibbs batted with the glee of a teenager armed with his father's credit card in a strip club. Pressure? That's what other people feel.

When South Africans wondered who would replace Jonty Rhodes as a fielder of the most predatory type, Gibbs answered the call.

However, not all of the superlatives attached to him are positive, for when too much talent trips over itself, demons often also lurk. Alas, so it is with Gibbs. He is perhaps as gifted as any sportsman can be. He is also as poorly equipped for the trials of daily life as any human being can safely be. Dark tales of marijuana smoking, drunk driving and match-fixing have blotted his career. Gibbs is about as close as cricket has come to producing a punk rocker, a figure who veers too close to self-destruction too often for the likes of those who prefer their cricketers unblemished by the real world.

They can rest assured, because Gibbs' time at the top is nearing its end. A first-class career that began when he was just 16 is now into its 20th summer. As his 40s loom, he may even pick up a book or two.Telford Vice

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Timeline

November 27, 1996 Eden debut

Herschelle Gibbs enters first-class cricket at the age of 16 and makes his Test debut six years later in front of 70,000 at Eden Gardens. But the match is best remembered for the feats of his fellow debutant, Lance Klusener.

January 30, 1999 Three figures at last

Scores his first international century, in an ODI against West Indies in Port Elizabeth. In March, he smashes an unbeaten 211 in Christchurch, his maiden Test century.

June 13, 1999 You just dropped the World Cup, son

Gibbs pays for his overconfidence in a Super Eights World Cup match against Australia at Headingley. Steve Waugh flicks it straight to him at midwicket, where in his rush to celebrate with a skyward hurl, he drops the ball. It costs South Africa the match as Waugh, then on 56, goes on to score 120 and wins the match for Australia.

Banned for six months after being involved in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal. He later admits to accepting money from Cronje to score fewer than 20 runs against India in the Nagpur one-dayer in 2000. He subsequently scored 74 runs and said he had "forgotten" about the deal, but was suspended and fined by the South African authorities. Over the next six years, he refuses to travel to India, fearing questioning by the Delhi police.

September-October 2002 Hattrick of hundreds

Becomes only the third player, after Zaheer Abbas and Saeed Anwar, to score three consecutive ODI hundreds. He scores a pair of 116s in the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka and 153 against Bangladesh at Potchefstroom.

January 2, 2003 Highest Test score

Scores 228 against Pakistan in Capetown, his highest Test and first-class score to date. His partnership of 368 with Graeme Smith was at the time the fourth highest opening stand in Tests.

Scores 101 against West Indies in the Champions Trophy at The Oval, his first century after 34 innings.

March 12, 2006 Whacking it at Wanderers

Gibbs' 175 off 111 balls gives South Africa hope that they can chase a manic 434 against Australia. And they do … Later that year, he arrives in India for the ICC Champions Trophy - his first visit to the country in six years.

March 16, 2007 Emulating Sir Garry

Gibbs becomes the first player to hit six sixes off an over in an international match, in the World Cup game against Netherlands in St Kitts. The unfortunate bowler is Daan van Bunge.

One of Deccan Chargers' star picks for $575,000. After under-performing in the first season, Gibbs does much better the following year, scoring 371 runs at 33.72, including 53 in the final, which Deccan win.